Ed Koch was one of the first prominent New York Democrats to break ranks and endorse Republican Bob Turner in this week’s election to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner. Koch’s early endorsement of Turner set in motion of a chain of events, culminating in the election of a Republican to represent parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Turner is the first Republican to represent this area since the 1920s. Today, I spoke with the former mayor about the campaign.

BG: Given that Israel is a “national” issue, why did you get involved in the race in New York’s 9th district, in particular?

Koch: There were only two special congressional elections in the whole country–here and in Nevada. The election in the 9th congressional district was the only election in the City of New York. And I thought, and I expressed myself publicly, that it would be a good place, being the largest Jewish district in America–something like 300,000 Jews lived in that district, and the Jewish vote would be somewhere around 30% or more–it would be a good place to have a referendum on whether the President’s position on Israel, which I have described as hostile to Israel, was one representative of the voters of that district.

And I got a call from Bob Turner, who wanted to see me. I had never met him before. We talked, and I said, “I want to send a message to the President on Israel,” and he agreed, and I also said, “I want to send a message to the Republicans in Washington that you disagree with their effort to privatize Social Security and Medicare.” He said, “I do disagree.” I said, “Let’s put it in writing.” And we did, and I endorsed him, and I framed the issues carefully so people could understand them.

Bob Turner was a marvelous candidate. Without a good candidate, you can’t prevail, even if you’re on the right side. He’s honest, intelligence, courageous, and he’s got a good sense of humor.

So we went out there. I campaigned for him, and the Democratic Party took the district for granted up until the last, probably, ten days, and then they realized from the polls that Turner had turned it all around. He was now six points ahead, a week before the election. So they brought in Bill Clinton, Charles Schumer, and Governor Andrew Cuomo to do robo-calls. And we did robo-calls–myself, and Assemblyman Dov Hikind–and clearly, we prevailed, since Bob won with an eight percent message.

Was that a challenge, to frame that dual message? (more…)

I first met you less than a week ago. Back then you were still just “Bob.”

Yes, now it’s “Honorable Bob.” (laughs)

What are your first impressions, on your first day on the job?

I was impressed with the warm welcome, the collegial spirit. I met with a lot of people today. The New York delegation was particualrly helpful and friendly. I was introduced on the floor by Charlie Rangel. We had a nice chat. The New York group works together on a number of things, which was good to hear. Joe Crowley explained a few things to me that we can work together on. It was all very positive. I walked in feeling there was more contentiousness, but didnt see that at all today.

What is your number one priority as a new Member of Congress?

My priorities right now are all logisitics–to set up the offices, both here and in the district, to get the right staff and the right flow of information from the constituents to the office, and get the right legislative agenda and priorities set up. I also want to try to get on the right committees. That’s a function of availability and interest.

Speaking of that legislative agenda, what’s the first thing you want to accomplish?

I’m primarily interested in the impact of the Dodd-Frank bill on New York State and New York City. We’re the world’s financial capital–banking, insurance, trade, commodities, et cetera–and a lot of the impact, or the unintended consequences, of Dodd-Frank will fall on New York, and we are only beginning to sift that out now. That is going to take a little direction, fine-tuning, and even elimination of parts of that law to protect New York jobs and growth in these areas. I’ll be paying special attention to that. (more…)

From WLS in Chicago:

Schakowsky said that Americans don’t deserve to keep all of their money because we need taxes to support our society.

“I’ll put it this way. You don’t deserve to keep all of it and it’s not a question of deserving because what government is, is those things that we decide to do together. And there are many things that we decide to do together like have our national security. Like have police and fire. What about the people that work at the National Institute of Health who are looking for a cure for cancer,” Schakowsky said.

(more…)

From National Journal’s Hotline:

With less than seven hours to go until the polls close in the contentious NY-09 special election, allegations of dirty tricks between Democrat David Weprin and Republican Bob Turnerare flying.

Weprin’s campaign claimed Tuesday afternoon that Turner and his GOP allies sent a 3 a.m. text message asking voters to call Weprin’s campaign headquarters to jam up his phone lines.

“It is outrageous that Bob Turner’s allies would resort to jamming our phones in an effort to prevent our campaign from contacting voters and getting out the message about how radical Bob Turner really is,” said Weprin spokeswoman Elizabeth Kerr. “Republicans participating in phone jamming in the past have landed in jail, and there must be a full investigation into the Republican phone jamming campaign.”

(more…)

A newly released poll by Public Policy Polling confirms the 6-point lead held by Republican Bob Turner over Democrat David Weprin in the race to replace Anthony Weiner in New York’s 9th congressional district.

The poll, showing Turner winning 47 percent support to Weprin’s 41 percent in the Brooklyn district, is significant because PPP is regarded as left-leaning. On Friday, an independent Siena poll showed Turner leading 50-44.

According to PPP, President Barack Obama is dragging Weprin down–and his treatment of Israel is a deciding factor:

The issue of Israel does appear to be having a major impact on this race.  A plurality of voters- 37%- said that Israel was ‘very important’ in determining their votes. Turner is winning those folks by an amazing 71-22 margin. With everyone who doesn’t say Israel is a very important issue for them Weprin actually leads 52-36. Turner is in fact winning the Jewish vote by a 56-39 margin, very unusual for a Republican candidate.  This seems to be rooted in deep unhappiness with Obama on this issue- only 30% of voters overall approve of how he’s handling Israel to 54% who disapprove and with Jewish voters his approval on Israel is 22% with 68 of voters disapproving. That has a lot to do with why Turner’s in such a strong position.

On Friday, Democrat state assemblyman Dov Hikind endorsed Turner–and made it clear that Tuesday’s special election was a chance for Democrats to send a message to the Obama administration protesting his policies on the economy and Israel. Hikind also decried the negative tactics being used by fellow Democrats in their attempt to save the seat.

Both candidates resume campaigning tomorrow after a weekend dominated by observances of the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

**Updated, bumped.

Democrat Dov Hikind, State Assemblyman for District 48 (Brooklyn), endorsing Republican Bob Turner for U.S. Congress in New York’s 9th District, moments ago:

A Siena poll released earlier today showed Turner with a 6-point lead over Democrat rival David Weprin, and indicated that 32% of the district’s Democrats intend to vote for the Republican.

Just before the press conference, Turner spoke to me about the issues driving the election.

“I think people are looking at this as a referendum on the president’s policies, that cover jobs, the economy, and–very strongly–the State of Israel, how Obama’s treatment of that impacts the voters of this district,” he said. (more…)

Republican Bob Turner holds a 6-point lead over Democrat rival David Weprin, 50-44, in the race to replace Anthony Weiner in New York’s 9th congressional district, as the campaign heads into its final days ahead of the special election on Tuesday, September 13.

The lead is significant, outside the poll’s 3-point margin of error, and suggests that Turner heads into Tuesday’s contest as the slim favorite.

Turner has surged 12 points in the past several weeks to overtake his rival, amidst a flurry of endorsements from Democrats, including former New York City mayor Ed Koch. President Barack Obama’s poor treatment of Israel and his failing economic policies are key factors in the race.

The poll follows news of Democratic disarray, as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee scrapped an expensive television ad showing a corporate jet flying low over New York City, just a few days before the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Follow BigGovernment.com for continuing coverage…

Accusations are flying in the race to fill Anthony Weiner’s vacated seat in the 9th district of New York.

Republican Bob Turner, whose internal polls show a dead heat with Democrat David Weprin, claims that his staff has caught several individuals attempting to spy on his campaign. Turner’s campaign released the following photograph of one alleged mole:

According to Turner press secretary Bill O’Reilly (not that Bill O’Reilly), the photo depicts “a Weprin staffer who tried to ‘volunteer’ for Turner.” The Turner campaign claims it has caught four attempted moles, including one posing as a “college reporter.”

Weprin, speaking to the local NBC affiliate yesterday, failed to deny the charge, stating only that he did not know about any alleged spying effort, and was not responsible in any case: “I can’t control who goes to everything.”

WNBC also captured Turner’s campaign manager attempting to hijack a Weprin press conference–albeit less surreptitiously:

(more…)